WORCESTER -- The head of the Shrewsbury Street Neighborhood Association is demanding a meeting with UMass Memorial officials to get answers about the future use of a building at 328 Shrewsbury St.

The three-story brick building, owned by UMass Memorial Realty Inc., is undergoing renovations after it had been closed since last fall.

Before then, it has been used as†a medical office building.

Gary J. Vecchio, president of the Shrewsbury Street neighborhood group, said inquiries had been made to UMass about what its plans for it were after†there was talk†that it was going to†be used†for outpatient psychiatric services.

He said state Sen.†Harriette L. Chandler and then-state Rep. Vincent A. Pedone, both Worcester Democrats, asked on behalf of the neighborhood if that was the case. He said both were told that there were†no plans to use the building for that purpose.

Mr.†Vecchio said when he noticed on Monday that renovation work is being done on the building, he went to the city's Department of Inspectional Services to see if a building permit had been pulled for the work.

He said a permit had been taken it and it stated that the renovation work was for outpatient psychiatric services.

In light of that, Mr.†Vecchio said UMass Memorial officials need to meet with the stakeholders in the Shrewsbury Street neighborhood to explain what is going on with the building.

He said his group has asked Mrs. Chandler to set up a meeting with UMass officials, business leaders, neighborhood leaders and city officials to get some answers to questions they have.

"I just want to make it clear that we are not for or against this at this time because we have many questions but no answers," Mr.†Vecchio said today. "We have concerns because UMass has not shared the plans for this building with our city administration, elected officials, or residents and businesses in the Shrewsbury Street area.

"We are also concerned because UMass did not tell the truth to Sen. Chandler or former state Rep.†Pedone when both of them asked if they were thinking of using this building for outpatient psychiatric use. Both of them were told they had no plans to use the building for that purpose."

Joel Fontane, director of the city's Division of Planning and Regulatory Services, said no applications for the 328 Shrewsbury St. property have been filed with any city board or commission for review.

UMass Memorial did not respond to a request for comment on the situation.

Mr. Vecchio†said the questions Shrewsbury Street residents and business owners have about the property include: the level of care that will be provided there; the number of days it will be open each week; its hours of operation; if there are any other planned uses for the building and the number of patients and staff that will be there each day.

He added there are also concerns about where people will park on that property, whether there will be security personnel in the building when clients are being seen and whether court-mandated clients will be seen at that building.

"Why has UMass not shared their plans with anyone?" Mr.†Vecchio asked. "We don't even know when they plan to begin servicing clients."

The three-story brick building, which was built in 1925, has 17,748 square feet of space, according to city assessor records.

The property is assessed at $2.4 million. But because UMass Memorial is a tax-exempt, nonprofit institution, no property taxes were paid to the city on it.